Spring motor



I Aug." 10 1926.

H. E. BoucHER SPRING MdTOR Filed Jan. 51 I a Shee ts-Sheet 1 IN VENTOR 7ML ATTORNEY Aug. 10 1926. 1,595,286

H. E. BOUCHER SPRLNG MOTOR Filed Jan. 31 1922 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 H. E.BOUCHER SPRING MOTOR File Jan. 5 192 2 s Sfieets-Sheet s Aug.10,1926i1,595,286

H. E. BOUCHER SPRING MOTOR ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 10, 1926.

nonacn E. BOUCHER, on NEW YO K, N. Y.

7 SPRING MOTOR.

a l c tio filed'lanuary e1, 1922.. Serial No. 532,949. 7

My invention relates to spring, operated motors. It relates particularlyto a compact, artistic spring motor-adapted to operate light-runningdevices such as toy boats, toy

E submarines, toy aer planes, toy automobiles and so forth. i i

The object of the invention is to provide a sprin -controlled motorwhich shall be easily, economically and rapidly constructed,

and which, while eflicient in operation, shall be of few parts, easilyput together and easily demounted, all parts beinginterchangeable, sotheparts may upset andbe rapidly clinched together, and, in. addition toits constructive and operative advantages presentii'ig an artistic andpopular appearance. In particular, and in accordance with my invention,the parts are so constructed to present the outward appearance, of a onecylinder gasoline engine. a

The drawings accompanying and forming part of the present. specificationshow one embodiment of the invention whose exterior resembles aone-cylinder gasoline engine. In these drawings: f

Figure 1 shows a side elevation;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation, I

Fig. 8 is a top view of the assembled motor; I

Fig. 4 shows, a plan of the key, with its rounded grips i V i Fig. 5isasection thru the center of the axis of the key; i i l i Fig. 6 is avertical. section thru the center of the vertical and horizontalshafts'of the assembled m achine;

i 7 is asection thru the plane A of Fig. 6, between the covenand. thenotched disc; t

Fig. 8 is a section thru the planeB of the same figure, passing. thruthe first spring, the first cup and'driving sleeve fixedfto the notcheddisc a-ttached to the keyshaft;

Fig. 9 is. a section in the planefChthru the "second spring, the secondcup and the sleeve fiizedtto the first cup. This figure, besides thefixed pieces 'of the preceding figures, also shows the play between: thesleeve and the key shaft;

Fig. 1.0:is aseCtiOn thru the plane D, the fourth spring, the fourth cupand the sleeve of the third cup; 7 i I Fig. 11 is a view of the crowngear from below, with the sleeve removed, showing also the driventransmissionelements;

YFigs. 1-2 and 13 show'respectively the second and thirdtrans nissionelements.

Fig. 14 shows the keyv shaft, the notched disc and the sleeve rigidlyattached thereto;

Fig. 15 isa sect-ionthru one of the cups 69 with the sleeve attachedFig. 16 is a section thru' the fifth cup, showingthe crowned toothedtransmission gear, the sleeve and the method of connection. This sleevedoes not, like the others, serve as an attachment for the spring, but asa collar for the crown gear and bearing for the key shaft and the cups;

Fig. 17 is a front elevation of the sleeve.

Fig. 18, is a longitudinal section of the sleeve, and

Fig. 19, is a transverse section of the sleeve. s

Referring to the drawings:

The key shaft 1 passes thru the top cap 2, which is secured to the topof the cylinder 3 The cylinder isv mounted on a base 4, to which issecured the transmission casing 5 by means of screws 5*. The motor isfixed in place by means of removable base plate 6. This platecovers thebottom of the framework and completes the casing. When removed, theworks may be inspectedand repaired. y 1

Means'are provided for utilizing the cyl inder of the engine as acontainer for the motor spring. A plurality of flat spiral springs areused, one above the other and connectedin series, all mounted within thecylinder, thereby producing. a long-running motor in a formwhoseexterior resembles a small, one cylinder gasoline engine. Theseries of spr'ings'are mounted each in its cup 8.; Fastenedlto the baseof the cups 8 are sleeves 9, turningfree onthekey shaft 1. These serveas bearings for the cups and as spacers separating the cups and keepingadjacent springs from. touching,v Moreover, slots. 10 in the sleeves9serveaspoints of at tachm ent for the inner ends of the springs 7, theouter ends of-which are detachably engagedbytongues ll, punched in thecircumfe'rence of the'cup 8. 12 are slots in the cup thru which thesprings can be'removed'. To simplify the construction the key shaft 1 isstepped in the base plate 6 (Fig. 6) which also serves as a bearing forthe sleeve of the crown 'gear wheel 18 and for the other cups. Thetransmission gearing which is constructed tomultiply the speed,- isarranged in a casing to one side of the base of the cylinder, the springmotor shaft and the drive shaft being at right angles, thus producingthe external appearance of an engine driving mechanism and its housing.

The crown gear wheel meshes with the pinion 14, mounted on thetransmission shaft 15, which turns in a bearing 16 in the transmissioncasing 5.

In order to multiply the speed by mechanism occupying but little space,the driven shaft is split into two members and a jack shaft andintermediate gearing are provided. The transmission shaft 15 carriesgear 17 which engages the pinion 18 mounted on the jack shaft 19, havingits outer bearing in the front of the transmission casing 5 and itsinner bearing in the side of the base 4, shaft 19 carrying in additionthe gear 20. The gear wheel 20 meshes with pinion 210 attached to thedriven shaft 22, which turns in a bearing 23 in the transmission casing5. The driven shaft 22 is mounted independently of transmission shaft15, and projects beyond the auxiliary casing. It serves to drive the toyor other device. The removable casing 5 permits ready assembly of thetransmission gearing and its repair when desired.

Winding mechanism.-The key plate 22 with rounded-off grips, to preventlacerating the hand in case of backfire of the spring, turns the keyshaft in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1. The cap 2secured to the top of the cylinder by tongues 21, which are bent overthe cap, carries downwardly struck tongues 24. These engage theprojections 2 1 stamped upon the disc 25 carried by the key shaft 1 andprevent backward rotation of the key shaft. 7

The sleeve 9 attached to the first cup is connected by means of its slot10 with the inner end of the second cup spring, the outer end of whichis in turn engaged by the tongue 11. In this manner tension istransmitted from cup to. cup until the fifth cup spring is wound up. Thecrown gear wheel 13 being fixedly attached to the last cup, is under theresultant tension of the battery of springs, and with this resultanttension acts upon the transmission unit enclosed in casing 5 thru pinion1 1, gear 17, pinion 18, gear 20, pinion 210 and driven shaft 22.

Means are provided simulating starting and stopping mechanism, forstarting and stopping the motor. A pivoted lever 26 is provided whichfor simplicity is shaped like a bell crank, the inner end of whichengages and clutches the tooth of pinion 18.

Three steps of transmission are shown respectively in Figs. 11, 12 and13.

In Fig. 11 the ratio of the teeth on the of course, be chosen, but inthe preferred arrangement of ratios, the numbers of the teeth in thesame pair of wheels has no comrnon divisor, and this accomplishes theimportant function of minimum and equally distributed wear. Theoperation of winding the springs, starting and stopping the motor andassembling the parts will be clear from the description and drawings.

The principles of this invention, altho especially advantageous forapplication to small toy motors. are nevertheless not limited to suchapplication.

The method of connection in series furnishes an available source ofenergy in a compact form, the resultant action being the power of thesprings less loss by friction, rendering the application of aconsiderable force at any one desired point an easy matter. It caneasily be seen that by the coaction of the battery of springs, eachspring in winding being under a slightly greater tension than the onefollowing it .in the series, and the reverse being the case onunwinding, a greatly increased operating time, power and uniformity ofaction must result.

The parts of the motor can be easily and quickly assembled or demounted;all are interchangeable, can be struckout of lightmetal cheaply andrapidly, and the machine can be removed from its support by unscrewingfour screws What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A spring actuated motor comprising a key shaft, a plurality ofsprings arranged in series and centered about said shaft, a disc.secured to said shaft, means for-preventing backward rotation of saiddisc, a slotted sleeve attached to said disc, said sleeve surroundingsaid shaft, a plurality of rotatable cups, one for each spring, theoutside of the'first spring being secured to its cup and the inside ofthe first spring being secured to said slotted sleeve, a casing having acylindrical portion enclosing said springs, said casing provided withbearings for the shaft and a driven shaft at the base of the motor atright angles to the key shaft, said parts resembling in appearance a onecylinder gas engine.

2. A spring motor, comprising a key shaft, a plurality of springsjournaled on said shaft, a cylindrical casing enclosing the springs andforming a bearingfor the keyshaft, a cap secured to the end of thecylinder and provided with downwardly projecting tongues, in combinationwith a disc having projections and supporting the top spring, saidprojections adapted to be engaged by said tongues.

3. In a spring motor the combination of a key shaft, a casing, a capsecured to said casing and provided with downwardly extending tongues, adisc with projections adapted to engage said tongues, a slotted sleeveattached to said disc and rotating therewith, a spring fastened at theinner end to the slotted sleeve, and a cup enclosing the spring andprovided with means for holding the outer end of the spring.

4. In a spring motor, a key shaft, a series of cups centered on said.shaft, spiral springs enclosed in the cups, sleeves attached to thebottoms of said cups and adapted to engage and tension the spring ofeach succeeding cup, in combination with a crown gear wheel attachedtothe last spring cup and provided with a sleeve adapted to form a bearingon the key shaft and a support for the series of cups. 7

5. A spring motor having in combination, a main casing with a projectingcylindrical portion and a bottom plate, a vertical key shaft mounted insaid main casing, a plurality of springs surrounding said key shaft, agear wheel freely rotatable on the lower end of the key shaft, a pinionengaging therewith, an auxiliary casing, an outer driven shaft at rightangles to the key shaft, said outer driven shaft being mounted in andcarried by the auxiliary casing and having a free end projecting thruand outside of said casing adapted to be connected to the device to bedriven, and multiplying gearing within the auxiliary casing and betweenthe pinion and the outer driven shaft.

6.'In a spring motor, the combination of a key shaft, a spring actuatedby the key shaft, a disc provided with means for holding said springunder tension, and a slotted sleeve attached to the base of said disc,said sleeve surrounding said shaft and attached thereto.

7. A spring motor comprising a key shaft, a series of coacting springscentered on said shaft, a main casing having a projecting cylinderresembling a one-cylinder gas engine and provided with top and bottombearings for theshaft, an auxiliary casing attached to one side of themain casing in combination with a transmission system enclosed by saidauxiliary casing said transmission mechanism comprising two shafts inline, the inner one of said shafts being mounted in the main casing andthe outer shaft being mounted in the auxiliary casing, a counter-shaftmounted between the Walls of the auxiliary and main casings multiplyinggearing between the springs, the counter shaft and the driven shaft anda finger lever mounted on the auxiliary casing having a portion adaptedto engage and disengage with atooth of said transmission system.

In testimony whereof,'I have signed my name to this specification.

H. E. BOUCHER.

